Somdev reduces junk food, hires new coach to regain identity

Pune He refuses to mourn poor results of the year going by instead Somdev Devvarman has carefully planned a way to get back his identity on the tennis courts by hiring a new coach cutting down on junk food and putting more hours on honing his serveDisappointment was writ large when he came out of the Centre Court following a defeat against compatriot N Vijay Sunder Prashanth in the second round of the ATP Challenger hereSomdev Devvarman Pic AFPAnd why not given that he spends at least five hours on training everyday when he is not playing and close to three hours during tournaments Yet 2015 is the second successive year which he would like to forget after slipping from 136 to 181 in the world rankingsIn 19 ATP Challenger level tournaments he fell in the first round itself 10 times on five occasions he lost the second round and won two titles Delhi and Winnetka apart from making two quarterfinalsHe looks fitter than ever and leaner too Ask him about it and without any qualms he reminds you about his age Fitness is one of my strengths and I believe in working on my strengths I am getting older I have hit 30 this year I have definitely cut down on junk food and some of the tastiest Indian foods laughs I am little bit conscious about my diet Somdev told PTIWhen countered that he was seen eating noodles after his first round match Somdev said One or two times in a while I am not tempted to eat much I generally eat simple food But I dont eat butter chicken I am a vegetarian Generally I have improved a lotI am vegetarian so lack of protein is a problem So just being very diligent on eating at right times having my protein shakes at the right time and eat vegetarian food that has protein like beans and soya I have recently found out that I have a few allergies that I need to deal with That was hurting me whole year and I did not know about that Its just getting healthy againAfter training with Scott McCain for many years Somdev has now hired a new coach his close friend from Greece Theodoros Angelinos Its been a month that they have joined forces to get him back to top100 Somdev and Ted as he is called have played together in College days in the USI am working hard with my coach We are doing everything we can He has known me for many many years The work we are doing will take a little but of time But we both are optimistic and both believe in my game Its important to be patient and dont expect miracles overnightMost important thing is to find ways to start winning again This year I have been doing very inconsistently that feeling has not come back He is working hard on my serve and finding my identity be in touch with my identity on the court Working on hitting a bigger ball better ball more depthDuring the Davis Cup tie in Delhi improvement in his service was quite apparent In his own words in that match against Czech Republics Jiri Vesley it was his best serving day ever Here also his service had stingSomdev revealed that he is giving more attention to his serve each and every session of trainingI have figured out my motion nicely My motion is pretty clean pretty simple Everyday I spend 20 minutes extra after every session hitting serves So over the course of the week or month overall you will see improvement if you keep spending time on the courtsAngelinos who played for some time on Tour and touched a careerhigh rank of 251 in December 2013 has great challenge before him It is his first big coaching assignmentI have been coaching for few months and Som is first player on Pro circuit Its been good We have played n college and tour together Its going well He said it will be difficult for Somdev to change his game drastically but some things can be done He firmly believes that Somdev is definitely good enough to be a top60 playerThere are certain aspect he can get better Go after some points a bit more improving forehand and serve You have to go after the serves and be more aggressive The base of his game is hard to change But yes some aspects need to change to get back to top100 Thats our goal He has done it before and we will again get there as soon as possible